The Silent Shores
by TexasBean
Summary: Life really throws you for a loop sometimes, and that is what Tyler learns when he meets the kids of the man his mother is dating. Haru Bakura's children and Tyler and his sisters must learn to get along, at least for the sake of their parents. But Tyler does not like Ryo, and the feeling is mutual. Tyler faces unique challenges with Ryo, and he isn't making things any easier. AU
1. Paradise Lost

Chapter One: Paradise Lost

Wasn't it somewhere at some time that someone somewhere once said something along the lines of, "Depending on how we act when a situation is thrust upon us truly determines who we are." There was a boy named Tyler "Ty" Harper who did not like that saying. Because it made him feel like he could not release his anger or frustration. He had to be "man of the house" because he had his mother Kathy to look after, along with two younger sisters. Young Tyler's life had been turned upside down three years ago when his Dad died of cancer.

Tyler has dark hair just like his Mom, and light blue eyes like his Father. Thirteen-year-old Shana takes after her mother, with her dark hair and hazel eyes, and eight-year-old Emilie (who had been a surprise; Katherine and John were only planning for two, but of course were quite pleased with their third) had taken more after her Father with her sandy blond hair and blue eyes. Perhaps because she was the youngest, and took after him, Emilie was the apple of John's eye. The kids had all been born in Texas, and had lived on the family ranch for seventeen years. That ranch had been John's pride and joy. He always was saying how it was the second best thing that he had. His family came first and foremost, and he was so proud of his kids. "You will aspire to great things one day" John would say. "You may run this ranch or you may do something even bigger and greater. Remember; if anything ever happens, we'll be here waiting for you."

That made all three of the kids happy; John did not expect them to stay in Texas and not live their lives. And he would be waiting for them to come home.

Kathy would often sit starry-eyed on the patio and tell the girls how she met John, and Kathy was a sucker for romance after all. Tyler would usually pretend he wasn't paying attention, but he loved the stories Kathy would tell about the dates she went on with his Dad.

She had met him when she had just turned twenty-three, and he had come to Hawaii for a long overdue family reunion for it had been almost 15 years. Her aunt's restaurant was catering the event, and as Kathy would put it, "He looked so nervous simply asking me for a refill," she would laugh. "Then he kept asking me to bring appetizers, and desserts. Finally, I said, 'If I say yes, will you let me serve the rest of your family?' It all began to fall into place from there."

Mom went to Texas for a few months, and had loved it. A few months after her twenty-fourth birthday, she married Dad. A year later, Tyler was born. Every summer, their family would vacation somewhere in Texas. When Shana was born, Mom said very matter-of-factly, "You realize we'll have to go back to those places again sometime, right? Shana has to have her chances too, you know."

Mom had loaded picture albums and scrapbooks of all of their family activities together. When Emilie was born, Mom was ecstatic. "We should go back to San Antonio as her first vacation, she will love it."

One day, Dad fell off of the ladder when he was putting supplies away in the barn. Although Dad said he was fine, Mom drove him to the hospital. Thankfully at the time, all it seemed that Dad had had been a cracked rib. But when the bruise on his side did not go away, Mom became concerned and they went back to the city to see the doctor.

When they found out it was leukemia there were then discussions of chemo, whether or not Dad would stay in the city, or he would drive the hour and half commute to the city, and even selling the ranch came up. It was confusing for Tyler and his sisters; their Dad did not smoke. Weren't people who smoked the ones who got cancer?

The ranch hands said that John could go; they would take care of everything, and they would take care of the family until their boss came home. It was soon decided that John would stay in the city until his cancer was more manageable. When the Harper family went to see him, his kids hardly recognized him. The man they knew as their Dad looked weak and frail, and had tired eyes. The doctors gave him a year and half to live, but John made it for two years, eight months. When he died, Kathy made the difficult decision to sale the ranch. She felt that it was not fair to the ranch hands that she could not truly manage the ranch. Kathy said it was because she could not pull her own weight. Mr. Thompson who had been Dad's right hand man for many years bought the ranch, and he promised that he would take good care of it. It saddened Tyler that his father would no longer be at the ranch waiting for them if anything went wrong in his children's lives. The ranch that seemed like it would never not be a part of their lives was now gone; and an entire ocean and hundreds of thousands of miles separated them.

Almost six months after John had passed, Kathy packed everything and everyone up and moved them back to Hawaii. Tyler never really could muster the courage to tell his Mom he felt like she was running away somehow; like she didn't want to deal with her husband's death and she did not want to be reminded. Tyler remembered when they got to the new house; Kathy took all the boxes labeled "Family Albums" and stuffed them somewhere up in the attic. Those boxes were probably stuffed somewhere in a corner covered in junk and dust so no one could access them.

As time passed, Tyler, Shana and Emilie slowly integrated into living a Hawaiian lifestyle. Kathy had taken over her aunt's restaurant "Auntie Flo's" after her passing, and business had been booming for her; in fact she has a signed picture of herself with World-famous chef Gordon Ramsey, along with signed pictures from famous actors, actresses and singers that line the walls of the restaurant. A year ago, two years after John's death, Kathy had started dating, "Just to get out of the house and the restaurant for a while," was her reason. In all honesty, she just wanted to keep herself busy.

None of the men Kathy dated seemed to be all that serious, or it seemed like none of the men she dated had interests in being dads or father figures for that matter. (Kathy of course wanted to make sure that if the men she dated were to ever get serious, they would be getting an entire family package so to speak. If they were not interested in pursuing a relationship with her including her kids, Kathy would simply move on to the next one). For Kathy, dating was just a distraction to keep her mind off of her troubles. It offered someone new to talk to, no matter what the subject was. She of course talked about her children, running a restaurant, and avoided talking about John. Talking about exes and deceased spouses was taboo, after all. A few months later, Kathy started smiling again, and it was genuine. She started humming and singing in the kitchen, and started to look different. Kathy started to look happy. The man she was currently seeing made her feel happy again, something she hadn't felt in a long time. While everyone else had lasted about a week to a month, this new man she was dating had been going steady for the past two-and-a-half months.

It was the last day of school for everyone, with summer starting the next day. Classes were getting out early that day, and everyone was excited. When the bell rang, everyone sprang up at practically the same time, stuffing their things into their bags and crowded out of the room shouting goodbyes to their teachers.

After his class had ended, Tyler sat outside with his friends; identical twins Kyle and Karl, who both had thick auburn hair that most people would compare to a crow's nest. Only their family and closest friends could tell them apart. Kyle was a bit stockier, and had more freckles than Karl, who had his hair just a few inches shorter than Kyle's. Karl was more into studying history and math, and he was also the wrestling team's captain. Kyle on the other hand, was more into things like surfing, camping, and skipping school. Mark had dark, curly blond hair that nearly came down to his shoulders, green eyes and tanned skin and was also into any type of extreme sport that involved a board, with rock climbing on the side. He often had his thick hair pushed back with a sweat band, representing his favorite sports and teams, and often had a large pin on the sweat bands as well with different sayings or an extreme sports star.

"This summer, I'm thinking of taking up mountain biking, my parents bought me a bike last month," Mark said with a nod. "You guys should join me."

Tyler smiled. "That sounds fun; I still have that mountain bike that I got for my birthday. I've never really had a chance to actually use it."

They were waiting for Tyler's sisters, who finally made their way over to the guys. Emilie was grinning, and was shouting above the noise, "I can't wait! I'm so excited! Summer's here!"

Shana on the other hand looked depressed. "Shana, are you alright?" Tyler asked.

"No." she said flatly. "The teacher gave us all an assignment, "What I Learned over the Summer". It has to be something new and interesting. I was looking forward to summer break, but now I have to focus on this stupid assignment."

"I'm sure it won't be all that bad," Mark said with an encouraging smile. "Just take up a new hobby or something, and then talk about it. What are the pros and the cons of the new hobby? What was easy and what was hard? I had that same assignment; from Mrs. Crotchet, right? When I had it, I simply started to do some research on the history of the town, and focused on Auntie Flo's diner. I guess she liked it because I got an A-."

"I guess." Shana replied with a sigh. "Thanks, Mark. I'll try to find something."

Shana made the last part sound extremely forlorn and unachievable.

"We better get going." Tyler said. "Mom said that she wanted us to get home right after school today and said that she had something important to talk to us about."

They bade each other good bye, and Tyler, Shana and Emilie made their way home. Emilie was really happy. "It's like that the days are so much more beautiful when there is nothing to do." She picked flowers as she walked, and hummed a merry tune.

"At least someone here is happy." Shana said, looking at Emilie almost enviously.

"You don't think I'm happy?" Tyler asked.

"You probably will have to work in the restaurant, I have that dumb assignment, and Emilie, well, she gets to have fun."

Tyler made a face. "Shana, you're making too big a deal out of this. It's not like you're expected to come back with a book. I mean, Mark is right, take up a new hobby or something and write about it a few days before school starts. Another thing; it isn't summer school."

"Fine," Shana said, and kicked a small rock. "But I'm still going to complain about it."

(If you cannot already tell, Shana tends to make a big deal out of little things, and often makes things harder than they were).

The air was full of anticipation, because summer officially started the next day. The stores they passed were putting the finishing touches on store fronts and signs, getting ready for both locals and tourists.

"It would be nice if the waves cooperated tomorrow," Tyler said thoughtfully. "The ocean's been flat for the past few weeks. I guess I'll check the weather report tomorrow."

(Just about every day was a sort of vacation for them, even though the kids had responsibilities such as chores and homework.)

When they got home, Kathy was in the kitchen singing, they recognized the tune, but they could not tell what the song was. When Kathy heard the door, she came out to greet them. She was smiling, "Hello," she said when she saw them, and kissed each of them on the cheek or forehead respectively.

"Go wash up and change into something a little nicer," Kathy said, her voice sounding excited, "we are going out to eat tonight… I would like you to meet Haru."

"Do we have to?" Tyler said in a mock whine. Kathy gave him a look, but she was smiling, and nodded. "Well, of course."

"Wow, things must be serious if you want us to meet him." Shana replied.

"Well, he has three kids of his own, but they won't be here until later on this month." Kathy replied, "Now go get ready to go, we have to leave at six."

They did not go to Kathy's restaurant, but to a small café called Beach Haven, that was further into town. They sat outside so they could enjoy the cool breeze.

Haru Bakura was a little bit taller than Kathy, and had dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail, and he wore wire-rim glasses. He was a former archeologist, but now was more of a writer, speaker, curator, and advisor for museums in Japan, different parts of Europe, Washington, and one in Egypt, and he was currently working at a local museum on one of the other islands.

His three kids were in Japan visiting their friends for the first two weeks of summer. Haru showed them a picture on his phone. It was at an awkward angle, and all three of the figures were making faces at the camera.

"You can always tell when they or their friends are the ones taking pictures …" Haru said with a sigh. He seemed to silently wish that the kids would take nicer pictures of themselves when he wasn't with them. Haru's kids knew how much it bothered him, so they did it on purpose. The only time they tended to be serious in the art of having their picture taken was if Haru or one of the aunts or uncles was taking the picture.

"Anyway, that's Akefiah, the oldest, who is turning 25 soon, and the twins, Ryo and Amane; they are 16." Haru explained. "Ryo's older by about 17 minutes. Everyone always asks me who is older," Haru explained when the kids gave him a look.

They talked for a few more hours, simply about work, school, and his fairly recent move to Hawaii (a year and a half ago). After a while, Haru stated that he had to leave, because he had a business call in another part of the world where it would be morning. He stood, bade each of them good bye, "It was very nice to meet you." He said to Tyler and his sisters.

On the way home, Mom asked, "So what do you think? He's a good man." She seemed to say that last part mostly to herself. "And isn't that great, Tyler? You and Ryo are the same age; I'm sure you'll have quite a lot to talk about. And perhaps Amane can become a sort of big-sister for you girls. And Akefia sounds like a really well-rounded young man."

"I like Mr. Haru." Shana said honestly. "But I would've liked to meet his kids."

"He seems like a cool guy." Tyler replied. He felt he wanted to say more, but couldn't think of how to say it. He wanted to say he felt like his mom was somehow pushing his dad aside, like she was forgetting him or something.


	2. The Bakuras

Chapter Two: The Bakuras

The first two weeks of summer passed quickly, and a few days later, Kathy announced; "We're going over to Haru's house for lunch. Akefia, Ryo and Amane are back, and Haru would like us to meet them."

Mom was making some kind of fruit salad as she talked. A delicious mixture of both strawberry and apple pie smells lingered in the air. She had assigned herself the task of bringing dessert, and her special fruit salad, apple pie, strawberry pie, and green salad was on the menu.

"You mean you haven't met them yet?" Tyler said, surprised.

"Oh, Haru and I met earlier this year, when the kids were in Japan for school. Did we not mention that at the dinner a few weeks ago?"

"No." Shana replied. She sampled some of the fresh strawberries that had not been used in the pie.

"Ah," Kathy started, as she was putting the finishing touches on the salad. "Well, they're coming here from Japan. The move took quite awhile of course, and Haru decided to let them say a few extra weeks in Japan since it was summer and it is likely going to be awhile before they see their friends again."

Shana retrieved the Plastic Wrap as soon as her mother was done with the salad so she could cover it.

"They're so lucky..." Shana said dreamily, "Going to school in a place like Japan... I wonder if it's just like the stories in those books Carly has?"

Shana was thinking of the manga collection a friend of hers from school had.

Kathy covered the salad, and made sure that there was not a wrinkle on the face of the salad. She then sighed, a sign of a job well-done, then said "Alright, we need to leave within the next five minutes or we'll be late. Is there anything else any of you have to do to get ready? No? Then, Tyler, you carry this, Shana, you carry this, Emilie, you can carry these, and I'll grab this."

They were out the door in seven minutes,mostly because Emilie had put on different shoes, and both of them were for the right foot.

* * *

Haru Bakura's house was a few miles from the beach, and they passed the house every day going to Auntie Flo's. The house had been foreclosed, used to have a run-down look, and had been either an off-white color or a faded yellow, but was now a deep shade of green with red trim. Tyler remembered seeing the house almost a year ago getting gutted and refinished. It appeared that Haru had also added onto the house, making it bigger.

"It looks like a story-book house!" Emilie declared. She was right, of course.

Flowers surrounded the place, and stone pathways lead to different parts of the garden, and there was a small pond with fish off to the side.

"This looks so lovely," Kathy said in admiration.

Tyler rang the doorbell, and a few minutes later, a girl answered. She had long, platinum blond hair that was so light it could have been mistaken for white. Her hair also had red and purple highlights. Because her hair was pulled back, one could see that she had multiple studs in both ears. She had dark brown eyes, and she was wearing glasses.

Shana thought that she looked like a punk rocker with her black, purple and blue clothing and her skirt which had a few skulls sewn into the fabric.

"Hey, I'm Amane," she said with a British accent. "Come in, would you like something to drink? We have tea, water, soda…"

Kathy smiled, "Of course we'd love something to drink. Ah, and this is Tyler, Shana and Emily."

"Of course," Amane replied and gave herself a light slap on the forehead. "Nice to meet you, me Dad has told me some about you."

"Hi!" Emilie said excitedly. "What kind of soda do you have?"

"Uhm… Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper… and a few different flavors of Ramune. I don't know why Dad didn't ask you what kind you liked; we usually don't drink soda, unless it's like a super special holiday or something. When was the last time I had soda…? Anyway we just bought it because you were coming… And we bought so much; I'm not sure what we're going to do with it. It might just go to waste unfortunately because no one here is going to drink it."

"Oh, and here." Amane said, she opened a closet and presented them with house slippers. "You don't have to wear them if you don't want to, but we don't wear shoes in the house, I'm afraid."

They took off their shoes, and Amane put them in the closet. She then took the pies that Shana and Emilie were carrying, and lead them to the kitchen.

The smell of cooking filled the house, and as the Harper family followed Amane who was chattering away (something about that this was the first time they were actually using the formal dining room, and why did people even have a formal dining room if they were only going to use it a few times year, it seems like a waste of space but her Dad wanted one so of course they should have one) Tyler only half listened as he looked at the family photos that lined the walls. One was of the kids in front of Kobe station, and they all were grinning broadly, and stood like they were presenting the scene behind them. In another, the three of them stood in front of a statue of Buddha, with Akefia covering his eyes, Amane covering her mouth, and Ryo pointing to his ears and shrugging with a slight smirk on his face.

One of course could tell immediately that Amane would ramble. She would get her mind set on one thing, and then somehow the subject reminded her of something else, so then she started talking about that as well.

The Harper children looked around, (especially Tyler and Shana, Emilie failed to notice these things) Tyler and Shana both thought that the house seemed very open. There was an odd light on the wall next to the door, and there were a few different colored lights along the wall at different parts of the house that they could see fairly easily. From what they could tell, there were two sitting areas, an office, two bathrooms, and there were three other rooms as well, but the doors were closed on them.

"Don't these people believe in walls?" Shana whispered to Tyler.

Suddenly, Amane stopped and said in a firm voice, "Kahn, get down!" She dodged as a medium-sized dog barreled towards her, he stopped short upon seeing the strangers in his house, and simply looked at them with a sort of tickled grin on his face.

"Doggy!" Emilie shouted, and she ran up to the dog and threw her arms around his neck. Tyler and Shana just looked at the dog, which had a sort of odd look on his face. He seemed to be grinning even bigger as he licked Emilie who laughed. The dog, in all honesty, was big, and he was rather ugly. The best way to describe the dog was as if someone had either been bored or had done a hurried job of throwing the parts of the dog together. He had a large, boxy face and body, his muzzle was scruffy as well, sort of giving his face a mustache-and-beard look. He had scruffy looking floppy ears, a brown eye and a blue eye, his blue eye had a black splotch over it, a few patches of discolored fur, and a crooked bushy tail that wagged back and forth with loud *thump thump* sounds, and even though he was now sitting down; and he was just the right size for Emilie to stand up straight and hug him.

"This is our dog, Dalek Kahn." Amane said, she stared suspiciously at Dalek Kahn. (The pleased look on his face might have meant he had done something).

"That's a weird name." Shana replied, and she slowly reached out to pet Dalek Kahn. Dalek Kahn licked her hand and Shana made a face as a trail of slobber stretched from Dalek Kahn's mouth to her hand.

"He's named after a Doctor Who character, actually. We just call him Kahn for short."

"What's Doctor Who?" Tyler asked.

"Haven't you ever watched "Doctor Who"?" Amane asked, genuinely looking surprised, mixed with a look as if she was also declaring "Blasphemy!" at Tyler. "My brothers and I love that show. We have all 24 seasons of the original series, along with just about all 6 of the re-launch series. We'll definitely have to convert you lot to Whovians."

Shana and Emilie went to wash their hands, and Tyler and his Mom followed Amane threw a swinging door into the kitchen, where Haru was washing dishes, and Akefia was stirring something in a pot and the stove, and Ryo was chopping up vegetables for a salad.

Akefia was at least a good foot taller than his father, (and he looked very much like him) except he had the same platinum blond hair as his siblings, which was rather bushy and it did rather remind Tyler of Mark with his uncontrollable curls, and came down almost to his shoulders, and he had pool-blue eyes. He simply waved at them, "Hi," was all he said, and he turned his full attention back to stirring whatever it was in the pot.

Ryo had the same long platinum blond hair and brown eyes like his sister; in fact most people said that they were perfect copies of each other- they looked like how someone would as a girl or a boy. He smiled at them and waved.

Amane placed the pies onto the island in the kitchen, and said "You can put those here until it's ready." She motioned at the fruit salad and the green salad that Tyler and his Mom were holding.

Once Shana and Emilie came into the kitchen just a minute or two later, Haru introduced his boys formally, "This is Akefia," he started, and again, Akefia responded with a simple, "Hi." Before going back to the soup pot, "and this is Ryo."

Haru was signing with his hand as he spoke; he then interpreted for Ryo, "It's nice to meet you."

"IT"S VERY NICE TO MEET YOU TOO." Kathy shouted. Akefia gave her an odd look. "YOUR FATHER HAS TOLD ME SO MUCH ABOUT YOU."

"He's deaf? Ouch!" Tyler said, but his Mom pinched him.

Ryo looked at Kathy almost like he wanted to laugh. But Haru spoke up, "Oh, Kathy- you don't have to yell. Ryo can read lips, just face him when you're speaking and speak clearly."

"Ah, of course." Kathy said, purposely enunciating each word, and she smiled at the Bakura siblings. "I'm looking forward to getting to know each of you better."

They carried the dishes to the formal dining room, and set up the food. They all sat down in such a way, that Kathy and Haru were at both ends of the table, and the Harper children and the Bakura children all faced each other.

"Ittadakimasu," The Bakuras said, folding their hands and prepared to dish out the food…

\(^_^)/ (Author Notes~)

Yay to the Bakuras being Whovians! Doctor Who is of course such a big and wonderful deal, and is something that I fully enjoy, so why not them too?

Wasn't sure how to make Amane's personality, as she was never in the anime/manga, and only mentioned… so I decided to make her opposite of Ryo; a rambler, artsy… more into flashy, rocker-look type of thing…

As for Ryo… I've read a fic before where he went blind, and haven't seen one where he was deaf, so I thought it might be more interesting having him and the Harper family have some sort of barrier. Here they have both a language and a cultural barrier that they must overcome. And as for Ryo's personality… I tried to make him more "balanced" in the sense that while he does act a bit like he does in the manga/anime, he also has Yami Bakura-ish tendencies. Not in the sense that he goes around manipulating people and stealing souls; but in the sense that he's more open to cursing, being into things like sports and other rough-type action…

And for Akefia, he doesn't have a scar, and he certainly doesn't act like himself (sorry to the fans of his! He is an awesome character BTW) I would have added in my own character as a sibling, but I just feel it wouldn't have worked somehow… and I needed someone from the show who at least looked like the Bakuras. It wouldn't work very well using Yami Bakura, simply because the majority of the time he is referred to as "Bakura" and I didn't want to give them a new last name… and I couldn't use Yami because well, that's Yugi's other half's name… so confusing! D: I actually know someone who is like Akefia's AU personality… although I'm exaggerating here with Akefia. I just wanted him to be the quiet type who doesn't really speak unless spoken to, or maybe when he feels he has something important to say. I hope you bear with me, and you like my take on the characters.

Finally, a big thank you to Julius Night, for being my first reviewer EVER. Thank you for your support!


	3. The Awkward Lunch…

Chapter Three: The Awkward Lunch… Could it Have Gone Any Worse?!

You know how you have these incredible images in your mind of how something or someone will be, and when you finally get to that moment where you go to the event, or you get to meet that person, and it only ends up being disappointing, embarrassing, awkward, or just plain awful?

That was what happened here. The start of the dinner was fairly quiet, so Kathy spoke up, trying to make conversation. "So, Akefia," she started. "What are you going to college for?"

Akefia had been eating his food sort of like a machine, and when he realized he was now the center of everyone's attention, he took a few more bites of food before replying, "I don't know."

Tyler and Shana sort of snickered, and did not do a very good job of hiding it, but when Kathy glared at them, and that just made it worse because they started to laugh even harder, and without success tried to cover it up. After all, everything is funnier when you aren't supposed to laugh. Whether or not their laughter bothered Akefia wasn't clear, because he didn't react. He simply continued trying to focus on his food.

"You don't know?" she continued (Maybe she was being just a bit pushy unintentionally).

"Well… I'm sure that I'm annoying my professors because I keep changing my major." Akefia said with a shrug.

"Well, what do you like to do?" Kathy was probably trying too hard, and Akefia obviously began to look uncomfortable. "Quite a few things. Numbers, history, art… but those are more like hobbies to me…"

Kathy was about to ask him something else, when Amane spoke up, "I'm sorry, but uh, are these strawberries?"

Akefia looked relieved that the attention was no longer on him, and Amane only asked the obvious because she knew Akefia was getting uncomfortable. He didn't really like talking to people that he had just met all that much. He gave a quiet sigh of relief that went unnoticed. Akefia hated it when people started asking him questions about what he wanted to do in college and after college… It was all too bothersome to think about.

"Yes." Kathy replied with a nod.

"Oh…" Amane started, "I'm allergic."

"Haru, you didn't tell me your daughter was allergic to strawberries!" Kathy said, looking distraught.

"I'm sorry…" Haru started, his face had a look of embarrassment. "It just slipped my mind…"

Haru had been extremely busy with the opening of the new museum in town that the subject of his children's diets had never exactly been a subject he had talked to Kathy about.

"How could your daughter's allergy slip your mind?" Kathy was on the brink of panic. This was supposed to be the meal where everyone got to know each other and everything was supposed to be perfect. While Kathy could keep her head in the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant at a busy time, when things started going wrong at the times she and her children were to make a good impression is when she would panic. Her kids could have sworn that a few hairs actually sprang outwards from her head and her eye twitched.

"Oh, well. I'll just pick them out and give them to Ryo." Amane said before her father could respond. "I'll still eat it. I mean, that's what Epi-pens are for, right?"

"What?!" Kathy almost shouted. She looked at Amane horrified (Amane wasn't helping). Kathy was on the brink of going nuts. She hadn't known about Amane's strawberry allergy, and would now be responsible for sending Haru's daughter to the emergency room.

Amane laughed nervously due to the look and response she had gotten from Kathy, so she shrugged. "I'm kidding… I just get a rash. It's not a big deal."

So Amane picked out the strawberry bits and gave them to Ryo, who had a look on his face that said he was enjoying the whole ordeal. For him, it was dinner and a show.

"Haru also forgot to tell us that Ryo was deaf," Tyler whispered to Shana. "I guess now we're going to have to start accommodating him wherever we go, and have yelling matches just so we can make him understand us. It'll be like dealing with a difficult two-year-old, or something."

(Haru had told Kathy about Ryo being deaf, but Kathy did not tell her kids because she wanted them to get to know Ryo themselves; and did not want them to base their judgments of Ryo before they had even met him. She and Haru had discussed their children quite a bit, but hadn't really covered certain topics, obviously). Shana looked at Tyler and then at Ryo, and was unsure of how to respond. It was at this moment Shana was not sure if Tyler was joking or being serious. It made her somewhat uncomfortable, especially when she looked in Ryo's direction. Ryo suddenly started glaring at Tyler, because he had seen what Tyler said. He tapped Akefia on the arm, and started signing.

"'Accommodate me?'" Ryo asked, anger obviously building. "Are you kidding me? If anything, I'm accommodating you. I'm the one reading your lips."

"Ryo," Haru started, but Ryo ignored him. "I know I live in a hearing world so I am the one who has to change for everyone else. I can't and don't expect anyone to do that for me. And I have never asked anyone to go so far as to 'learn Sign Language so we can have a conversation'. I may show them a few signs to make things easier, but the rest is left up to me."

Tyler was feeling extremely uncomfortable under Ryo's glare. Tyler wasn't sure how someone who looked like Ryo did to have such a scary look in his eyes.

"And do you really think that dealing with me is like dealing with a two-year-old? Is that what you think?!"

If Ryo had been speaking, his voice most certainly would be getting louder as he went on. His facial expressions showed how angry he was, and by now Tyler wanted to disappear, or at least get a word in edgewise, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Speaking of things that my Dad forgot to mention, he forgot to tell us how much of an ass you are."

With that, Ryo was done. Haru knocked on the table and started signing to Ryo, but did not interpret for the Harpers what was being said.

"What is going on?" Haru asked.

"Tyler thinks that dealing with me is going to be like dealing with a two-year-old. Kathy would have been better off telling them that I'm deaf. Why didn't she tell them?"

Ryo wanted to leave, but he signed his frustration. "I can't win, can I?"

"Win, what?" Haru signed.

"If I leave, I'll be the jerk who didn't get his way and went away to pout. If I stay, I'm the jerk who just makes everything awkward."

With that, Ryo did one of the things that he did very well; shut everyone out. His father and siblings could tell by the way he was acting he would not respond to anyone of them.

"Ryo…" Amane started, using her voice and sighing somewhat. She looked concerned, but knew that when Ryo was like this, he would continue to do so until he felt otherwise. It was the stubborn part of him that often reared its ugly head. There are good times to be stubborn, and other times being stubborn isn't exactly a good thing.

The lunch continued with everyone eating in silence, seemingly making everything worse.

"Do you have any plans for college, Amane?" Kathy finally spoke up, trying to get the situation calmed down and smoothed out.

"Well…" Amane started, but did not bother to sign. Ryo was not paying attention and did not care. "I think I may go in for something like art or fashion design, maybe photography. I made this," and she turned her head so Kathy could see her hair clip which had little skulls and hearts on it. "I made this necklace too. I'll make you one- I'll show you some of my designs. I'll make something for Shana and Emilie too, if you like."

"Really?" Shana said. "Could you show me how to make jewelry?"

Sure." Amane smiled, and she itched at a red spot on her face. Kathy felt some relief that the girls might get along. Now if only Ryo and Tyler would get along.

"I know it's kind of early," Shana started, "But I have to write a report for school about something new I learned over the summer. Maybe I could write about making jewelry. That's new and interesting."

"I'm not an expert, but I'll do my best to show you what I know." Amane smiled. Her face was starting to get little red splotches. Amane also started to itch at her fingers as well, because she had touched the strawberries when she picked them out and gave them to Ryo.

"What about you, Ryo?" Kathy asked. She was secretly hoping things would go a bit more smoothly with the kids now that it seemed Shana and Amane were getting along.

Akefia shook his head, and replied quickly and somewhat bluntly, "Don't bother. Ryo isn't going to respond. When he's like this… it's best to let things be."

He wasn't exactly comfortable talking to the Harper's yet, and the situation between Tyler and Ryo wasn't exactly helping.

Amane was annoyed at Tyler, and let it be known when she started: "I'm afraid I disagree with Ryo about you being an ass, Tyler. You are an arrogant and entitled ass."

At the same time, Amane was starting to get increasingly uncomfortable; her entire face was now covered entirely with red splotches. "I need to get some anti-itch cream. Maybe I'll take some Benadryl too, just in case."

She stood up rather quickly and walked out hurriedly, before Haru could respond. Then followed a rather awkward silence; The Harper children kind of either stared at the wall or at their food, and Kathy was somewhat furiously stabbing at her food, like she was killing it before taking a bite. Akefia looked even more mechanic as he ate, he hated uncomfortable silences, and he wasn't sure what to say or how to say it in order to make the situation somehow better. Ryo was also stabbing at his food, but he had a sort of pouty look. Ryo was secretly wishing he could have an allergic reaction too so he could leave; and not come back. Haru also looked uncomfortable, and he was feeling rather guilty that things had already gotten off to such a terrible start.

* * *

Haru and Kathy started making small talk, trying to get around the uncomfortable situation that had come about.

Ryo then decided to try to talk with Tyler, for the sake of making things less awkward (and in all honesty he wanted to be the mature one) so with Akefia interpreting asked,

"What do you like to do?" to Tyler.

Tyler was somewhat surprised, but he went along with it because he could feel his mother's glare boring into him.

"Probably a sports announcer or something," Tyler started. "Maybe I'll write for sports' columns or something and move on from there. What about you?"

"Not sure," Ryo replied with a shrug. "Probably something to do with traveling, board sports… I like skateboarding a bit… but Motocross is my favorite to be honest."

"Skateboarding? I bet you're pretty good," Tyler said, feeling like he may be able to drum up a little competition with Ryo. This was also a part of Tyler that was trying to be the mature one. "I've actually never seen a Motocross race. But I've wanted to."

"Oh, I'm not very good at it at all," Ryo replied, referring to the skateboarding and waved his hand as if he were brushing off the complement. "I still have a lot to learn… there's still so much I don't know."

This lead Tyler to believe that Ryo wasn't all that good, and his wanting to be a figure in any type of sport was a pipe dream. (This honestly showed Tyler's ignorance of culture, and thankfully he didn't say anything that would have let this show).

In truth, Ryo was quite skilled at skateboarding and was proud of the fact. Although he didn't consider himself to be up in the ranks alongside the likes of Tony Hawk, Ryo could still do well enough that his friends in Japan said that he should consider giving up the Motocross stuff and start skateboarding full time. He was also able to hold his own in snowboarding. The reason that Ryo downplayed his abilities was because he was used to Japanese culture. In Japan, it is common to downplay your abilities, and some to the point that one might even say something along the lines of, 'I'm quite stupid, you know! It took me such a long time to get the hang of it, I wasn't sure I would even be able to pass the test!' While all the while the person being complemented was quite proud. A person who brags about their abilities and shows off is often looked down upon.

But if Ryo had to choose between a skateboard or a motorcycle, he would choose the latter in a heartbeat.

Tyler decided to take another step at being the mature one and suggested that Ryo come meet his friends sometime, as they were sports enthusiasts as well. This was also a ploy to get back in Kathy's good graces. Ryo of course agreed, as he was trying to be mature as well. This of course was the beginning of a sort of unspoken competition between them. If it had been one-sided, then things may have turned out differently.

* * *

Amane came back, her makeup was now splotchy looking, and her face was shiny because of the anti-itch cream, so bits of her hair stuck to her face. Her dark eye shadow had ended up getting smudged, so her eyes now had a look as if she had a lack of sleep. Amane had also touched one of her ears when she had touched the strawberries, so it was now somewhat swollen, so Amane had to remove all of her earrings.

Tyler stifled a laugh when he saw her, but Ryo smirked and laughed out loud at her, and Amane gave Ryo a friendly shove after she sat down. Shana and Emilie both burst out laughing, following Ryo's lead.

"I know how I look," she said. "Like something out of a horror film, I'm sure."

Seeing that Ryo was now actually interacting with who was around him, she was willing to be a little more forgiving of Tyler.

"Are you alright?" Shana asked.

"Oh, this is nothing." Amane replied. "When we turned five, our Mum made us a strawberry cheesecake for our birthday. My face and hands swelled up so bad, that Dad and Mum rushed me to the emergency room. We got to spend our fifth birthday at the hospital! We both thought it was such an adventure."

"Yeah, we had so much fun I broke my arm when we turned six just so we could go back." Ryo added.

"You spent two birthdays in a row in the hospital?" Emilie asked wide-eyed.

The twins both nodded, obviously proud of this feat, but the looks on their faces changed when Emilie announced, "Our Dad spent his birthday in the hospital too. He went 'cause he had cancer."

Akefia coughed, and looked at Emilie. Ryo and Amane looked at each other then back to Emilie, with matching looks of confusion and discomfort. Tyler and Shasta both glared at Emilie, and Shasta gave her a light pinch.

"You don't need to be telling them about Dad, Em," she whispered.

Kathy and Haru both looked uncomfortable. "It's getting late." Kathy stated hurriedly, a smile plastered to her face. "I have to work early at the restaurant tomorrow. We should go."

With everyone helping to clean up (excluding Emilie who ran off after Dalek Kahn) they got everything straightened and put away, with enough leftovers left for everyone, and the Harpers made sure that they took everything that had strawberries in it with them. The Bakuras walked the Harpers to the door, with Emilie and Dalek Kahn both bounding in circles around them.

"Emilie, not in the house!" Kathy said sharply, and Emilie stopped because she could tell by the sound of her mother's voice she shouldn't have to be told twice.

Everyone shook hands and said their goodbyes, along with mumbled apologies from both Ryo and Tyler, (again both were trying to be the mature one) and the Harpers left. Amane also apologized, and looked guilty.

* * *

Kathy felt that she should say something to Tyler about what he said about Ryo, and it was a brief discussion. Kathy said that the reason she did not tell her kids about Ryo being deaf because she wanted them to actually meet him, and not base their judgment of him before they had even met. She wondered silently if that had been good judgment on her part. But she did thank Tyler for making an attempt and for inviting Ryo to hang out with him and his friends.

* * *

Back at the Bakura household, Haru Bakura was trying to figure out if he should have a talk with Ryo and Amane for talking to Tyler the way they did (although the twins had been in the right in a sense) but Ryo had also tried to somewhat make amends.

He wasn't really angry, and although things had not gone exactly as he had hoped, they could have been worse. He just had a chat with the twins about how they reacted to what Tyler had said (of course he wasn't excusing it) but he thought it could have been handled better.

* * *

That night, Tyler Skyped with his friends and told them some about how dinner went, but left out the part where he made an ass of himself. Ryo and Amane also ended up telling their friends about the dinner, and included the part with Tyler's comments, and discussed what they wished they had done or hadn't done. But they also mentioned that they would be seeing more of Tyler as he had invited them to hang out with his friends at some point.

**A/N**

**This took me longer than I would have liked, because I ended up rewriting a few details... so please enjoy!**


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